Murgh Makhani Recipe (Restaurant Style)

Murgh Makhani is a delectable Indian chicken curry made with butter, cream, and aromatic Indian spices. The non-veg variant of Veg Makhanwala is quite similar to Butter Chicken.

This recipe is of Mughlai origin and is adapted into Punjabi cuisine. But you can find people all over the country enjoying this rich delicacy.

There cannot be a better recipe for the Sunday afternoons of a chicken lover. Or you can serve it as a special dish to guests and impress them. It is an irresistible dish with the richness of its gravy and slight sweetness contained in it.

There has been no use of onion in this recipe. So if you are a Jain or have anything against eating onion, then this is a perfect recipe for you.

Not using onions in the recipe makes it more aromatic and tasty. Moreover, the combination of cashew, butter, and double cream will give the dish so much richness and will enhance its flavour. You are ought to want more and more!

Murgh Makhani vs Butter Chicken

When I googled the name of this recipe, I got endless results of butter chicken instead. The majority of the recipes just used both names interchangeably. The recipes might have similarities but they are different from each other.

Butter chicken is basically chicken tandoori pieces with rich and creamy tomato gravy. That is not the case with Murgh Makhani. This recipe here is a far simpler version of the other recipe. Butter chicken has more spices and ingredients, and is an elaborate dish.

Though both dishes have a tomato base, onions are absent in this recipe, unlike butter chicken. The cooking process is also very different. In butter chicken, the chicken is marinated and grilled first then added to the tomato and onion gravy separately made. However, in this recipe, we are directly boiling the chicken with ginger-garlic paste without any marination or grilling.

The use of yoghurt is absent in this recipe and the amount of butter used here is very less as compared to that of butter chicken. Butter chicken also has more whole spices and edible red colour.

Tips:

• If you want a bright colour then add edible red food colour.
• You can eat this dish however you want. Either serve it with naan, tandoori roti, bread, kulcha, or steamed rice. The choice is completely yours.

Have a look at our similar chicken recipes Chicken Curry and Chicken Tandoori Tikka.

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Ingredients of Murgh Makhani

• To Boil Chicken

• Chicken - 250 gm
• Water - 1 cup
• Ginger Paste - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste

• For Puree

• Butter - 2 tbsp
• Tomato - 4 pcs
• Cashew Nuts - 1 tbsp
• Ginger-Garlic Paste - 1/2 tsp

• For Gravy

• Butter - 2 tbsp
• Bay Leaves - 2-3 pcs
• Cumin Seed - 1 tsp
• Turmeric - 1 tsp
• Red Chili Powder - 1 tbsp
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Water - 1/2 cup
• Garam Masala - 1 tbsp
• Double Cream - 3 tbsp
• Kasuri Methi - 1 tsp

Steps for Murgh Makhani

• Boiling Chicken

• Heat a pan. Put the chicken in it.
• Add water, ginger garlic paste and salt to it. Mix well.
• Cover it with a lid and boil for twenty minutes.

• Puree

• Add butter in the heated pan and melt it. Chop the tomatoes and put them in the pan.
• Then add ginger garlic paste and cashew nuts in it. Mix properly. Cover it with lid and cook for ten minutes.
• Blend the mix afterward to make a puree.

• Gravy

• In a heated pan add butter.
• Drop the bay leaves and cumin seeds in it. Mix it.
• Now add the puree in the pan. Stir well for few moments.
• Now add turmeric powder, chili powder, sugar, and salt all together and mix well.
• After that add water and mix it. Then put the lid on and cook for 5 minutes.
• Finally, add the shredded chicken, garam masala and double cream in the mixture.  Cover with lid and cook for the final 15 minutes.
• Garnish with coriander and serve hot.

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